French gardening can be said to have begun twice in Edwardian England.
On 12th November 1904 when a letter to the Evesham Journal from “A Wellwisher” suggested the town’s market gardeners visit Paris to inspect how growers there used glass to force early vegetables. And again on 20th March 1908 when the Daily Mail ran an article under the headline “Golden Soil. Frenchman’s methods of cultivation. £500 off an acre” which began the craze itself.[1]
It was the few French gardens established by professional horticulturalists following Wellwisher’s intervention that provided the raw material for the Daily Mail’s sensationalism.
[1] ‘A. Wellwisher’, ‘The Market Gardening Industry. Important Suggestion.’ Evesham Journal, 12 November 1904, p.5; ‘Golden Soil’, Daily Mail, 20 March 1908, p.3